6 Work Perks You Might Be Missing Out On

by Basic Bitch ·
Published October 26, 2017
· Updated October 23, 2017

My work recently started offering on-site oil changes. You sign up in advance and once a month someone comes to our work to do oil changes. They’re the same exact cost as Midas or Jiffy Lube but they’re MUCH MORE CONVENIENT because I’m not taking an hour out of my day to go to them. Instead, I’m moving my car to a specific part of the parking lot and I don’t even half to go anywhere!

Depending on your industry, the type of company you work for, and your value to that company – you might have many work perks available to you. Or you might have none.

It seems like I’m constantly reading articles on the best work perks at Google or Amazon or insert other big tech company here.

But the vast majority of folks don’t work for a world-dominating company like Google or Amazon. We’re just regular Joe’s muddling through.

That’s not to say that our jobs are terrible, though. In fact, it’s quite possible you might be missing out on some pretty great work perks that you should be taking advantage of!

Here are some common work perks you could be missing out on!

1. Health & Fitness Perks

Read through your insurance paperwork carefully or check with HR. But lots of companies offer discounted gym memberships or Weight Watchers memberships for employees! This could be a significant value. Some businesses even have a gym on site! It might be small, and you might have to play around with your timing to figure out when it’s not crowded, but it’s FREE access to something you could be paying tons of money for!

2. Flex Time

Does your company offer flex time? That is the ability to flex your hours one way or another for doctors’ appointments or daycare drop off or whatever? If they do, make sure you’re taking advantage of it! If you’re an early bird, come in at 7 so you can peace out while the sun is still in the sky! If you’re more of a night-owl, well come in at 10 and make sure you’re at your most productive during the hours that work for you. Employers would not offer this if they didn’t think it provided some value to you, the employee. Prove to them it does have value. Use it.

3. Telecommute Opportunities

I’m not sure about you, but I get SO MUCH WORK DONE when I telecommute! SO MUCH! Plus, I’m not spending 90 minutes of my day in the car commuting so I’m happier on those days. This saves me time. It saves me gas. Try it. If your work offers it (or even if they haven’t offered it yet!) ask to sign up for telecommuting. Try it one day a week to make sure it’s for you (it’s not for everyone) but I bet you’ll like it!

4. Tuition Reimbursement

Guys. This is free fucking money. If your work offers this, even if you don’t think you want to go back to school. You should go back to school. Do it, you stupid idiot. It’s FREE and it can help you develop new skillsets and stay on top of what’s going on in your industry. Jesus fuck. Don’t throw this away if your work offers it.

5. Commuter Benefit Accounts

Did you know you could use pre-tax money to cover your public transit pass? Whether it’s Metra or Metro or WMATA or wherever you live, you can set aside up to $130 a month pre-tax for use in purchasing public transit passes.

6. 401k matching/Retirement Contribution Matching

Yes, this is a personal finance blog so it’d be stupid not to take the chance to once again mention that your future self sucks and you should be contributing to your retirement accounts RIGHT NOW.

If your company offers up 3 or 4 or 5% matching you should FUCKING TAKE THAT MATCH. You’re literally throwing money down the drain if you don’t take it. You’re lighting actual cash on fire. You’re screwing yourself over down the line.

Do you get my drift?

Tell me about your favorite work perk in the comments! Is it unique to your company? Did I miss something good here? I want to hear about it!

About The Basic Bitch

Hello there! Welcome to Basic Bitch Getting Rich! A blog borne out of the frustration of trying to find ideas to help me save money without being so frugal as to lead me to start re-using my paper towels (Yes! That’s a real money-saving tip!).

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